GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College softball team played to a split of its Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader with Thiel College Friday afternoon at Tomcat Park in Greenville.
The host Tomcats took game one by a 4-1 margin. The Presidents led for the better part of game two before the Tomcats forced extra innings with a late rally. W&J eventually prevailed due to some late heroics from their two freshmen,
Mirranda Rinehart (Washington, Pa./Trinity) and
Taylor Dunn (Washington, Pa./Trinity).
The split moves W&J to 5-9 overall and 2-2 in the PAC. Thiel is 7-13 overall and 2-2 in the conference.
Game One – Thiel 4, W&J 1
The Tomcats used a leadoff triple and a sac bunt to take a 1-0 lead after the first inning.
Hannah Allen (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) helped the Presidents tie the score in the top of the third. The Presidents strung together three-straight hits in the frame.
Sydney Petrowski (Lemont Furnace, Pa./Connellsville) doubled and
Kyra Blauth (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) singled to put runners on the corners. Allen followed with an RBI single down the right field line.
Thiel quickly regained the lead in the bottom of the frame. A leadoff triple was followed by a sac bunt to make it 2-1 Tomcats. Thiel added a pair of unearned runs in the sixth to secure the 4-1 victory.
Blauth led the Presidents at the plate with two hits in game one.
Kaylee Witner (Freeland, Pa./MMI Preparatory School) started and suffered the loss despite a solid outing in the circle. Witner struck out three and walked none. Just two of the runs she allowed were earned.
Game Two – W&J 5, Thiel 4 (8 Innings)
For the second time in as many conference doubleheaders, W&J bounced back from a game one loss and recorded a one-run victory in game two to record a split.
The Tomcats opened the scoring in the top of the first by scoring an unearned run on a passed ball.
W&J took its first lead of the day with a pair of runs in the third inning. Rinehart was hit by a pitch with one out and advanced to second on a single by Allen. Following a wild pitch, Blauth tripled to deep right center to plate Rinehart and Allen.
The Presidents tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively. Allen led off the fifth with a triple and scored on an RBI groundout by Petrowski.
A two-out double by
Julia DiPietro-Harvey (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) led to a run when
Aliya Schraeder (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) followed with an RBI single to left to extend the lead to 4-1.
Thiel would rally back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. A two-run single to left trimmed the W&J lead to 4-3. Petrowski was able to escape without further damage in the sixth.
However, the Tomcats evened the score in the seventh. A leadoff triple set the Tomcats in prime position to tie things at 4 and they did so with a successful sac bunt a batter later.
The Presidents took the lead for good with a run in the top of the eighth inning.
Savannah Keough (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) and Schraeder both singled to put a pair of runners on. Rinehart delivered a clutch two-out, two-strike single to left to score Keough for a 5-4 lead.
Despite some tension in the bottom of the eighth, the Presidents were able to escape with the victory. Dunn retired three-straight Tomcats with the tying run at third base. With a runner on third and no outs, Dunn got a strikeout, an infield pop out and a strikeout in succession to secure the victory. The clutch effort earned Dunn her first collegiate save.
Petrowski picked up her team-high fourth win of the season. The senior allowed four runs (three earned) in 7+ innings of work. Petrowski struck out five and walked three.
Schraeder finished with a team-high three hits in the win. Allen and
Deanna Gratton (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) added two hits apiece.
On Deck: W&J is scheduled for three doubleheaders next week. The first of which is a non-conference twinbill slated for Monday, April 1 at Pitt-Greensburg.
